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HIV-1 seroprevalence, risk factors, and preventive behaviors among
women in northern Thailand.
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 2000;25(4):353-359.
Xu F, Kilmarx PH, Supawitkul S, Yanpaisarn S, Limpakarnjanarat K, Manopaiboon
C, Korattana S, Mastro TD, St Louis ME.
Abstract
To study HIV-1 seroprevalence, risk factors, and preventive behaviors among
reproductive-age women in northern Thailand, 804 consenting women who were
identified postpartum or who were visiting family planning clinics were interviewed
and tested during 1998 to 1999. Almost all women were currently married and
had been pregnant more than once. Their median age was 27 years. HIV-1 seroprevalence
was 3.1% overall and was higher in women aged between 25 and 29 years (5.9%),
having had > or =2 lifetime sex partners (6.5%), or whose current marriage
had lasted for < or =1 year (7.0%). No woman reported HIV risk factors
other than heterosexual sex. Most (76%) HIV-infected women reported no casual
sex partners and, therefore, had likely acquired the infection from their
husbands. HIV testing and partner communications were common, but only 2%
of couples used condoms consistently in the prior 6 months. Nearly half of
these women perceived themselves at no or low risk for HIV infection; these
women were less likely to have taken preventive actions. To prevent HIV transmission
in stable partnerships in this population, additional efforts are needed
to increase HIV testing and condom use, to improve women's negotiation skills,
and to develop new methods that do not require partner cooperation such as
vaginal microbicides or vaccines.